steve stower is right in the fire zone. >> reporter: the flames are out of control. this home no match burning to the ground in seconds. this resort area just west of ft. worth, reduced to rubble. at least 25 homes destroyed. nearly 200 more threatened along thousands of acres. my colleague, jim douglas, was in the middle of it. >> these apartments are going to clearly come to the ground. these already did. there are burned foundations all around here. the lights in the middle of the flfles, the volunteer firefighters, trying to save them. >> reporter: the dense smoke so thick it is cutting off highways. >> you can't see through that stuff. and it's very scary. >> reporter: some fire crews surrounded. three dozen departments in all are fighting these fires fueled by historic drought conditions and relentless winds, on the ground and by air. as residents try to evacuate. >> you think you have time, and you don't. >> we just took what we could from our home. >> reporter: to the north in oklahoma city, another dozen homes have been lost. several hundred more evacuated.